


Eat Your Heart Out

by occultclysms



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrids, M/M, Multi, Pre-Poly, Pre-Slash, Snow, i didn't say it but yukhei and johnny are dating :3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24069691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/occultclysms/pseuds/occultclysms
Summary: Crown Prince Taeyong Lee of the North runs away from his kingdom and into the forest that's rumored to be full of monsters and finds two wolves; Johnny and Yukhei.Moodboard #48- This was written for the Moodboard Round of NCTOT3 [2020]
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Lee Taeyong/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Suh Youngho | Johnny/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 4
Kudos: 76
Collections: NCT OT3 Mood Board Fic Fest





	Eat Your Heart Out

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaa my first fic for nctot3!!! thank you to brooke for beta-ing over this love you <3 
> 
> when i got this moodboard, i had literally no idea what to do with it, but once i got my plot i realized it fits some of carly's favorite things (royal aus, hybrids and johnyong), so to carly, one of the coolest creators i have the pleasure to be friends with :3

Crown Prince Taeyong Lee of the North. It has a beautiful ring to it, doesn't it? Taeyong doesn't think so. He despises being the heir to the kingdom. Why would he want to rule over something so fucked up? No one truly wants to create change for the betterment of the people. All anyone cares about is power and money, which tend to go hand in hand anyway.

Taeyong is sick of it. He's sick of the people trying to get close to him for influence. Sick of his measures for improvement not being taken seriously. Sick of it all.

And that is why Taeyong is running away. It's the dead of night and his bag is packed. Standing in front of his full length mirror, Taeyong removes his crown and sets it on the dresser to his left. He stares himself down, trying to get one last look of his royal self because after tonight, Taeyong will no longer be Crown Prince Taeyong Lee of the North. He will be merely Taeyong Lee, no title given.

That isn't to say there won't be some things he won't miss about being a royal. Bubble baths might be the number one thing on that list if he's being honest. A bath is the one time where he can simply relax without anyone interrupting him.

After a moment's hesitation, Taeyong runs into his bathroom and grabs all of the bath salts he can carry and dumps them into his bag. His bag is now five pounds heavier, but he can't bring himself to care at all.

Taeyong walks over to his bed and grabs his red cloak that's laid out for the occasion. Red arguably isn't the best color to wear when everything outside is snow-covered white, but this is the warmest cloak Taeyong owns and since he's mostly planless, he slips it on anyway.

Now to get out of the castle. There's guards all over the palace, but Taeyong knows it's the changing of the guard soon and besides, he has his trusty knight Jaehyun who agreed to help sneak him out.

There's a soft knock on his door and Taeyong nearly flies to his door. He opens it slowly, peaking out to make sure it's Jaehyun and not some other guard.

"Greetings, your majesty," Jaehyun murmurs and Taeyong's face scrunches up in disgust.

"Please call me Taeyong. There's no need to be formal if I'm leaving the royal life behind," Taeyong whispers back. "I have my bag on the floor." Taeyong opens the door properly and lets Jaehyun in. He isn't dressed in the traditional steel armor of a knight, instead, donning all black to help him blend in to the shadows.

"You might want to place your cloak in your bag for the moment. It may help hide your face, but the guards all know that cloak is yours," Jaehyun points out. Taeyong nods, takes the cloak off and shoves it in his bag.

Jaehyun takes Taeyong's bag and looks to him for confirmation. Taeyong nods and Jaehyun opens the bedroom door, peeking around the corner to see if the coast is clear.

"Alright, let's go," Jaehyun whispers. Then they are power walking through the empty halls of the castle. Taeyong's heart is already pounding in his chest and nothing has even happened yet.

He's familiar with their plan. They will walk together until they near the outside gates, Taeyong will take his bag to the edge of the woods and wait for Jaehyun who will bring Taeyong a steed to ride out of the Northern Kingdom.

Horseback is always the preferred option for travel, even if going a short distance as the woods are full of horrendous monsters. Stories of wolves, bloodsuckers, and even the occasional dragon to scare children into steering clear of the woods.

Once out of the castle, Taeyong feels the adrenaline kick in. He can see the gates from here. He can get over that and then he'll be free. Freedom has never been so sweet. Jaehyun hands Taeyong his bag and then Taeyong is off racing through the snow to the weak spot in the gate.

This spot has the metal of the glorified fence bent just enough for Taeyong to slip through. How no one has noticed, Taeyong has no idea. But whatever, this is working to Taeyong's advantage so he'll ignore it.

Taeyong tosses his bag over the gate and looks behind him, Jaehyun is already gone which is good, that means less time where Taeyong is horseless. Slipping through isn't hard, but once Taeyong is on the other side, he spends one last moment look at the castle.

That's his first mistake.

Taeyong spots several guards racing towards the gate and he panics. He grabs his bag and then he is sprinting through the snow as fast as he can. He's come this far and nothing is going to stop him now. Not even the goddamn royal guard.

Not risking another glance behind him, Taeyong pushes as hard as he can. He can see the forest and since the guards can't fit through the fence with their armor on, Taeyong has a good head start.

Once Taeyong is several hundred yards into the forest he stops running. The snow has slowed him down and killed his stamina. Quickly, he grabs his cloak and slips it on, hood falling over his eyes and clasp pressing into the base of his throat.

The bag goes over one shoulder and Taeyong pushes onwards. He keeps his ears open for any sounds of monsters, but he hears nothing, not even a bird or a mouse. Taeyong thought the forest was dark to begin with, but the farther he goes the darker it becomes until he can barely see six inches in front of him. The air also gets even colder, chilling Taeyong to his core.

All Taeyong has to do is find a tree to sleep in for the night and he is safe. Monsters can't climb trees after all. But Taeyong doesn't even get the chance to find a proper tree before he is thrown to the ground by some large animal and fear courses through his veins. He looks to see that there's a huge wolf on top of his back and Taeyong screams, voice echoing among the trees.

The wolf on top of Taeyong hops back off him and looks at Taeyong strangely. Almost as if the wolf is a person. Taeyong sits up and scooches away from the wolf while maintaining eye contact.

A second wolf bounds up behind the first one and howls at him. Taeyong glances between the both of them. He knows he can't outrun them or defeat them, so what options does Taeyong really have here?

Luckily for him, or maybe unluckily the wolves shape shift into people. Or at least, mostly into people. They both have wolf ears, tails and sharpened canines, but otherwise look like everyday humans.

"Are you okay?" the first one asks, looking genuinely concerned. "I really didn't mean to hurt you, I thought you were a vampire or something." The first one kneels down next to Taeyong and cups his cheek looking to see if Taeyong has any injuries.

"Oh, it's quite alright. I'm okay, really," Taeyong squeaks, cheeks blushing a sharp red as who knew wolves could be so handsome. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"Aren't you Taeyong Lee, Crown Prince of the North?" the second one asks and good god, how do even wolves know of Taeyong's existence?

"No?" Taeyong replies even though it sounds more like a question.

"You must be," the second one insists. "There's no other human that looks the way you do."

"Thank you?"

"I'm Yukhei and this is Johnny," says the first wolf. "We were out patrolling our home when we ran into you. As an apology for my earlier behavior would you like to spend the night with us?" Taeyong is flabbergasted. A gorgeous wolf wants to invite him over for the night. Unbelievable.

"Uhhh." Taeyong looks to Johnny who doesn't seem to have any problems with this either for some reason. "You do realize we just met right?"

"You don't seem to have another place to go though," Johnny points out. "Yukhei and I understand what it's like to run away from everything you knew. It's better to have someone else with you when you do it. And I'm assuming that was your plan, but things didn't go quite right."

"How did you know?" Taeyong asks, standing up. He doesn't particularly want to get murdered by Johnny and Yukhei, but they seem nicer than the other potential creatures of the forest, so Taeyong is probably better off with them.

"You're a prince, but you don't have a horse with you. Completely illogical, especially because I know you're a smart cookie," Johnny points out. "And before you ask me to prove it I just want you to know that occasionally me and Yukhei go into town and hear about the good work you've been doing."

"What good work?" Taeyong snorts, picking up his bag and sliding his hood off his head. "All I've ever wanted to do was to help people, but no one ever lets me because they are so much more concerned with themselves."

"But haven't you gotten some things done?" Yukhei asks. "Better protections for workers, tax breaks for the middle class..." It's true, Taeyong had achieved some things, but he had to back shitty deals to get them done. Protection for workers? Harder for workers to sue over discrimination. Tax breaks for the middle class? Tax breaks for the rich. Eventually Taeyong snapped.

"Yeah," Taeyong says sadly. "I don't really want to talk about it, but I'll take you up on the offer of somewhere to sleep tonight." Yukhei smiles and offers to carry Taeyong's bag. "I can carry it myself, don't worry."

"We are a few miles from our home, so you might want to hand your bag to Yukhei and hop on my back," Johnny says, crouching down. Taeyong has no idea what's happening until Johnny is back in his wolf form, looking at Taeyong with curious eyes. Johnny has a point though and Taeyong hands his things off to Yukhei who gives Taeyong a big grin before shifting himself.

"So, do I just climb on top?" Taeyong asks. What is the proper etiquette to climb on top of someone who you've just met? Johnny nods his head and Taeyong sighs. YOLO, he supposes. He throws one leg over Johnny's back and wraps his arms down around Johnny's neck, pulling himself flush against Johnny, hoping for the best.

Then they are off, sprinting through the snowy woods. Trees fly by so fast, Taeyong gets dizzy, so he shoves his head into Johnny's fur instead. Johnny smells like cinnamon and vanilla which makes no sense because he's a literal wolf, but it's better than him smelling like wet dog. He's also soft. So soft that no blanket in the entire kingdom would feel as good to the touch as Johnny.

Taeyong is finally adjusting to the feeling of flying through the woods when Johnny slows to a stop in front of a massive pine tree with a trunk probably a hundred feet around.

On shaky feet, Taeyong climbs off Johnny and tries not to fall over when he steps into the snow. Both Johnny and Yukhei shift back quickly and walk towards the tree.

"Do you live here?" Taeyong asks. He's only known the castle and some about the way peasants live, but he's never seen anything like this before.

"That we do," Yukhei says. "After you." Taeyong swallows his fear and walks through the open door into a singular open room. There's stairs to his right that go up to a loft area, but otherwise everything is all on this bottom floor. Directly ahead is a living area covered in rugs and pillows while a kitchen area with a small dining table is to the right. Everything is lit by lights strung around the walls and streaming across the room. Overall, looks like home. Somewhere that is full of comfort and happiness, which makes Taeyong's heart sink. He's really invading into Johnny and Yukhei's life without even asking.

"Why do you look sad?" Johnny asks. "You're much too pretty to be sad." Johnny's cheeks are a soft pink and his ears downturn.

"I just feel bad for intruding," Taeyong admits, choosing to ignore the comment about him being pretty.

"Really don't feel bad," Yukhei chimes in from the kitchen. "We used to be apart of this much larger pack and since we grew up with it, we didn't see what was so wrong with it. But once we saw innocents being killed for not bending to the will of the pack we knew we had to get out, and we've been here ever since."

"That really sucks," Taeyong replies, walking over to Yukhei. "Like do you want a hug because that sounds awful." What a 180 in mood for Taeyong. First he was afraid of them, but now he wants to console them. Maybe Taeyong is extra empathetic to their cause.

"I will always accept hugs," Yukhei declares. "But first let me boil the water for tea. It's been a long night for you I'm sure and tea makes everything better." Taeyong nods and he senses Johnny behind him.

"You scared me," Taeyong whines and Johnny smiles.

"Yes, I'm so scary. Roar." Johnny bares his teeth but there's nothing scary about it, so Taeyong giggles. "So, why did you run away, Taeyong? You said you didn't like politics but was there something more to that?"

"I never really felt safe, if I'm being honest. Like I feel safer here than I did in my own court. No offense though," Taeyong explains. "Everyone told me from a young age that there would be attempts on my life, so that became the new normal for me. Kinda fucked me up, but yeah."

"I'm so sorry," Yukhei says after making sure the pot is placed on the stove properly. "Now I want to hug you." Taeyong laughs and opens up his arms, letting Yukhei dive into them.

"Can I join in on the hug?" Johnny asks shyly and Taeyong nods. Johnny wraps his arms around Yukhei and Taeyong's shoulders bringing them in close, which makes Taeyong feel so tiny next to the two of them. He's always had friends or guards who are taller than him, but this is ridiculous. Taeyong's head fits perfectly against Yukhei's chest and maybe he's imagining things, but these two wolves could be his forever home.

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on twt im nice i promise  
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